6. The Nuptial Night

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When the sound of the door closing receded, the hand holding the metal door knob slowly dropped down, clenching into fists. The room was dark and airy, with only a shimmer of moonlight splayed on it sparingly to serve as any form of light in the room. The room, though spacious, felt indescribably tight and suffocating as two figures in red breathed the same air inharmoniously, maintaining an implicit silence.

General Haoran gazed at the shadow of the person dressed in ceremonious crimson, seated at the edge of the bed, facing away from him. General Haoran's gaze slowly moved from the person to the elaborately decorated bedding arrangements, where sumptuous red flowers were scattered across the pure white sheets as if defiling the innocence of the white. There was even an incense with slightly aphrodisiac qualities mingled with pleasant-smelling salts lit to fan the flames of desire.

But General Haoran was a man of few desires.

and bodily desires were the last of them.

Recounting today's events, he knew that by tomorrow he'd be the joke of the empire and the main topic of conversation among both the nobility and the commoners alike. Gossip was hard to contain, and the best he could do to save himself some embarrassment was to negotiate with the gossip heads of the city this very night and fabricate the story to his favor to prevent the court from becoming involved in his affairs. He lifted his eyes to look at the person on his wedding bed. The mosquito-groom still hadn't moved.

He was probably angry, but General Haoran couldn't care less. He was the cause of this mess in the first place, and he absolutely didn't feel the need to apologize for giving him a nice cold shower before throwing him into the river.

However, he did want to make a few things clear.

A wedding night and the nuptial chamber... were not things he ever considered he'd have to face in this lifetime. He had planned on living his life in solitude and dying alone, possibly on the battlefield. He had realized a long time ago that bodily desires and anything to do with sexual encounters aroused no emotion in him. Countless women have been thrust at him at different timelines ever since he'd returned from winning his first war against a rebellious kingdom within the Empire of the Blazing Sun. But these women were all more conniving and scheming than the others, with no regard for who he was but salivating after his title and riches. They were no different than the politicians and were weaklings with no sense of propriety or perseverance.

Therefore, marriage was not something he had ever felt the need to include in his life, and he wanted to remain a sexless old martyr, an honorable figure who lived and died for his country. However, now that marriage was sanctioned by the will of the very people of his country and by the order of his lord monarch, he'd have acquiesced to his fate and indulged in life as a married man, even if not out of desire but out of duty. The problem was that his partner was from the Empire of Silver Mountain.

General Haoran looked at the shadow of the person shaking the bed's head to the rhythm of the wind.

Leaving aside the fact that his groom was... unappealing, the biggest hurdle that General Haoran refused to compromise on was that he was a man of the Silver Mountain. He couldn't, with good conscience, indulge in intimacy with a person who was part of the enemy terrain and who held the blood debt of more than thousands of his comrades. However, they were now, for good or bad reasons, married and had to come to a peaceful arrangement of their lives even if they couldn't be the ideal husbands.

He didn't want to sleep with the enemy, and he was sure this mosquito groom felt the same.

"Um, so" General Haoran coughed, clearing his throat "Prince... Prince Fu Lin (mosquito)". He wanted to squeeze his face at the sound of that. The person within the shadows, however, didn't move an inch.

Was he perhaps seriously angry?

The general really couldn't be bothered. He straightened his back and stated the matter of concern: "I am here to inform his royal highness, the prince, about some things and conditions pertaining to our... marriage".

The prince, however, still did not give him any form of respect and remained motionless. General Haoran was starting to get a bit annoyed with his complete negligence and wanted to shake the person into attention, but restrained himself. He didn't want to waste any more time here and opened his mouth to rapidly state his intentions and walk away.

"As this is a marriage of convenience, I simply wanted to state that there would be no... happenings between us as regular marriage partners would have. You are free to live your life, provided that you do not sully or implicate the 'Zhou' family name, as you are part of it now, and on the same note, I shall live my life on my own terms. Together, I hope we can peacefully uphold this disposition for both our countries' sakes, and I, on my behalf, shall ensure your physical needs are fulfilled to the best of my ability".

Once he was done, he looked at the other. He was still motionless and silent. No matter; he had already stated his intentions, and the other's input on them was not his concern. Especially if he chose to ignore it.

Therefore, as he was about to open the metal handle bar of the door, a massive gust of wind blew through the open windows, and a whisker of sand flew in and got into his eye. At the same time, a loud "thud" sound resounded through the room, and General Haoran immediately closed his eyes. Through the haze, General Haoran could make out the silhouette of red silk cutting through the air and tumbling down.

Did the prince fall down? No way... Had the cold from falling into the river gotten to him so bad that he'd fall down from a simple wind?

After the wind receded, he opened his eyes and looked down.

On the floor was a broomstick wrapped and dressed up in red wedding robes, fluttering about in the wind, with the spiky brown bristles lying motionless on the ground.

So all this time he was talking to a fucking broomstick like a madman?

General Haoran had never felt so humiliated and embarrassed twice in the same day as he did now. Did that mosquito bastard take him for a fool?

"You're going to pay for this, dear prince."

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Here you go! Another chapter, hope you enjoy *Sends virtual hugs* ( ' ∀ ')ノ~ ♡ Don't forget to vote, comment and share if you enjoyed the chapter. Also make sure to follow me for updates on more exciting stories!


𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐲'𝐬 𝐇𝐮𝐬𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝 || 敵の旦那様 (𝐁𝐋) ✔ [COMPLETE]Where stories live. Discover now